When Amado Zazueta came across a dolphin in a river, he knew he had to help.
The dolphin had become stranded in the shallow waters and separated from his friends.
So, Zazueta and three or four other fellows jumped into the river to catch the dolphin with their bare hands. The dolphin’s rescue was caught on video.
The dolphin in the video appears to be a bottlenose dolphin. According to International Dolphin Watch, dolphins tend to live in fairly shallow water.
That is about 7 to 12 ft. of water. But dolphins can dive in great depths of about 2,000 ft., the website says. The dolphin in the video was found in waters about half that depth, which is why Zazueta stepped in to help.
At first, Zazueta tried to grab the dolphin and wrangle it in his arms. But the dolphin was too strong for him.
Then two other men jumped in the river.
It was a chaotic scene of men flailing around the river, screaming orders trying to get a hold of this dolphin who kept slipping through their grip.
Eventually, they were all able to get a good hold of the dolphin and lift him into a sheet wrapped around two bars so that he could be lifted onto a boat.
Someone cried out to watch for the dolphin’s tail as he was being placed on the boat. The men made sure to pour water over the dolphin to keep it moist.
They also had Vaseline just in case, which also helps to keep the dolphin’s skin moist.
Dolphins are aquatic animals that live underwater but can’t breathe underwater.
So, they can live out of water for several hours as long as they are kept went and their body temperature is regulated.
“This was a more difficult rescue because he’s a larger dolphin, and well, he wasn’t surprised,” Zazueta said in his video. “The animals don’t know when you want to rescue them and return them to the sea. He thought we were chasing him. But he’s in a better place, and soon he’ll be back in the sea.”
The dolphin had been seen before with another male dolphin. They were happy that the dolphin would soon be reunited with his buddy.
When they arrived at the beach, the men walked the dolphin lying on the sheet into the ocean.
“You’re going back to meet your friend, dude,” Zazueta said.
It was a little chaotic again with the men carrying such a heavy load and yelling directives at each other to properly maneuver the dolphin into the water.
He started moving his head and shaking it as soon as the water touched him.
The men then lowered the sheet, and the dolphin quickly wiggled off of the sheet and into the water to swim out to where it was deeper.
“Adios!” the men yelled and waved as the dolphin swam off.
Check out the dolphin’s rescue in the video below.
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